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Schedule 3ABORIGINAL JUSTICE IMPLEMENTATION COMMISSION

RECOMMENDATION ON POLICING

1. THE AJI AND POLICING

The relationship between police services and Aboriginal people was central to the AboriginalJustice Inquiry. The AJI itself was established in the wake of the controversy that surrounded thefatal shooting of J.J. Harper by a Winnipeg Police Department officer in 1988. Issues of racism,cultural sensitivity and accountability all emerged during the course of the AJI hearings. As aresult, the AJI made an extensive number of recommendations in the area of policing. Theserecommendations on policing were based upon seven core principles:

! The adoption of Aboriginal community-based policing as the favoured strategy forpolicing in all Aboriginal areas.

! The development of professional, fully trained, regional Aboriginal police forces,reporting to and serving Aboriginal communities, with a broad mandate for lawenforcement and crime prevention.

! A significant strengthening of employment equity programs, particularly in the case of theWinnipeg and Brandon police forces, including targets and remedies.

! A significant expansion of the availability and quality of cross-cultural training and fieldexperience, including processes for the orientation of new staff to the Aboriginalcommunities to which they were assigned.

! Major improvements to the Provincial Police Act and Regulations, and in the role andfunction of the Manitoba Police Commission, to properly support the development ofstandards and procedures to guide all aspects of policing in Manitoba.

! The development of Aboriginal police commissions to support the rapid recruitment,training and effective support of Aboriginal police forces.

! The development of an effective public complaints body to hear all complaintsconcerning police.

The AJI concluded that in Manitoba, Aboriginal people “believe they are being provided withinappropriate levels and quality of policing. The most frequent complaints were that police forcemembers are not in touch with the culture and needs of the Aboriginal communities they serve.Many communities feel that service is unavailable when needed. Aboriginal people see a largegap between the community and the police, a gap which cannot be bridged as long as the

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community is unable to exert some control or guidance over the police who are present in it.”(AJI, page 595)

The AJI report stated that Aboriginal people experience both under- and over-policing. The issueof over-policing arose from evidence of Aboriginal people being stopped on the streets andquestioned about their activities, being charged with more offences than non-Aboriginal peopleas a form of harassment, and being kept in custody in situations where a non-Aboriginal personmay not have been kept in custody. The issue of under-policing arose from situations in whichAboriginal people came to the conclusion that police only came to their communities to makearrests. In many Aboriginal communities police were seen as a remote and foreign authority.These concerns led to support for measures that re-focussed policing away from what the AJICommissioners saw as a narrow approach to policing to a broader community-based andcommunity-controlled approach.

(a) Police forces in Manitoba in 1991

In 1991, when the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry report was released, policing services in Manitobawere provided by a number of different agencies. Winnipeg, Brandon and eight smallercommunities had their own police forces. According to the AJI report:

In a minority of reserves, Aboriginal police forces, such as the Dakota Ojibway TribalCouncil Police Force, or “special” RCMP constables provide limited police services. Inthese communities, major crimes are investigated by the RCMP. Northern communityconstables provide services to Métis areas, with the RCMP providing back-up servicesfor major crimes. (AJI, pages 608-609)

Under its contracted role as the provincial police force the RCMP provided police services to therest of Manitoba. The AJI stated that in Manitoba there was no case where an Aboriginalcommunity had full control over policing and provided a complete range of police functions toall its community members.

(b) The AJI’s comments on the Provincial Police Act

The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry report raised a number of important concerns about the ProvincialPolice Act. The AJI report concluded that:

Manitoba compares poorly with other western provinces in its regulation of policeactivities. Each of these other jurisdictions has an Act which provides, among otherthings, clear definitions of relevant terms, limitations on the terms of appointment ofpolice commissioners, powers to make regulations, powers to set and enforce wide-ranging standards for the selection and training of constables and the equipping of policeforces, the establishment of a police training facility. Manitoba’s Act provides few of the

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specific details of similar acts in those provinces, and no regulations currently exist toactually enforce the standards which the Act implies, but does not define.

The present lack of a clear mandate and the absence of relevant regulations in regard topolice appointment, training and supervision create a potential danger to the security ofManitobans, particularly in areas not served locally by the RCMP. Three different Actsmay be involved in the empowerment of any one officer. The confusion in regard to thesource, scope and validity of the police powers of band and municipal constables isunacceptable. (AJI, pages 624-625)

While the Manitoba Government has jurisdictional responsibility for policing, it has only a verylimited ability to affect the operating policies and practices of the various Manitoba policedepartments. A Manitoba Police Commission would provide the government with one tool toinfluence policing policies and practices. The AJI report stated that a major revision of theProvincial Police Act was vital to providing an appropriate framework for the Manitoba PoliceCommission and for any Aboriginal police forces or commissions.

(c) The AJI’s comments on public complaints

The AJI was also critical of the structures that existed for handling public complaints aboutpolicing in Manitoba. It concluded that the Law Enforcement Review Agency was not aseffective as it needed to be because:

• The authority of the Law Enforcement Review Board was too restricted

• The authority of the Law Enforcement Review Commissioner was too broad

• The standard of proof was too stringent

• The penalty procedures were too limited

• The Law Enforcement Review Agency's resources were not sufficient for theinvestigation, and resolution of complaints in a timely manner.

The AJI report also judged the RCMP’s Public Complaints Commission process to be lacking inboth independence and transparency.

(d) The AJI recommendations:

The AJI policing recommendations can be roughly sorted according to the seven principles thatthe AJI report enunciated. In the following section the principles are stated, followed by the

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appropriate AJI recommendations.

! The adoption of Aboriginal community-based policing as the favoured strategy forpolicing in all Aboriginal areas.

Police forces adopt a community policing approach, particularly in Aboriginalcommunities.

! The development of professional, fully trained, regional Aboriginal police forces,reporting to and serving Aboriginal communities, with a broad mandate for lawenforcement and crime prevention.

As soon as possible, Aboriginal police forces take over from the RCMP the responsibilityfor providing all police services in Aboriginal communities.

The RCMP support the establishment of Aboriginal police forces and develop a policy ofcooperation with such forces.

The Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council Police Force be provided with sufficient resourcesso that it can increase staff training and development in modern police methods, andgradually assume full responsibility for all law enforcement duties within its geographicjurisdiction.

Aboriginal communities be encouraged to form regional police forces and regionalpolice commissions following the model of the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council PoliceForce. These should be established under Aboriginal control and management.

Métis and non-status communities consider the development of a regional police force,with a police commission.

! A significant strengthening of employment equity programs, particularly in the case of theWinnipeg and Brandon police forces, including targets and remedies.

Police forces immediately institute employment equity programs to achieve Aboriginalrepresentation equivalent to the Aboriginal proportion of the Manitoba population.

New targets be set by the RCMP to bring appropriate numbers of Aboriginal men andwomen into the force as full officers more quickly than is currently contemplated.

The RCMP employ Aboriginal police and civilian staff in their detachments in proportionto at least the Aboriginal population of the province and preferably in proportion to theAboriginal population being served.

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The Winnipeg Police Department prepare and table with the city council and the Ministerof Justice, no later than December 31, 1991, an employment equity plan which has cleartargets, target dates and remedies should targets not be achieved.

The City of Winnipeg Police Department set an initial target of 133 Aboriginal policeofficers. The first step in reaching that goal should be to designate the next recruitingclass as entirely Aboriginal. Thereafter, 50% of each recruit class be dedicated toAboriginal recruits until the target has been met.

The Winnipeg Police Department be required to report publicly the progress of itsemployment equity program to the Minister of Justice.

A portion of the funding provided by the Province to the City of Winnipeg for policesalaries be conditional on the Winnipeg Police Department’s using that funding only forthe hiring of Aboriginal police officers.

The assignment of Aboriginal police officers not be restricted to the core area or otherAboriginal areas of the city of Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Police Department no longer rely on the grade 12 educational criterion forpolice recruitment and develop approaches which more appropriately test recruits’ability to perform the functions required of police officers.

The City of Brandon Police Department prepare and table with Brandon City Counciland the Minister of Justice an employment equity plan no later than December 31, 1991,which will increase the numbers of Aboriginal people on the City of Brandon PoliceDepartment to a level equal to their proportion of the Manitoba population. The planshould include target dates by which to achieve that proportion and remedies shouldthose targets not be met.

The City of Brandon Police Department set an initial target of nine Aboriginal policeofficers and that the Brandon City Police dedicate that number of positions forAboriginal recruits in its next recruit class.

Both the City of Winnipeg Police Department and the City of Brandon Police Departmentconsider hiring Aboriginal police officers who already have policing experience with anAboriginal force or with the RCMP.

Aboriginal people be represented among the civilian members of both the City ofWinnipeg Police Department and the City of Brandon Police Department in the sameproportion as their presence in the province’s population.

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! A significant expansion of the availability and quality of cross-cultural training and fieldexperience, including processes for the orientation of new staff to the Aboriginalcommunities to which they were assigned.

Cross-cultural education components of all police training courses be reviewed andstrengthened, and this process actively involve members of the Aboriginal community,resource persons and recognized experts.

All police officers be rotated through cross-cultural education programs, and periodicrefresher programs be provided as part of the regular professional developmentprograms of all police departments.

Any police recruits displaying racist attitudes be screened out of training, and policeofficers who display such conduct after joining the force be required to take furthertraining or, if necessary, be formally disciplined or dismissed.

The courts adopt the Anunga Rules of Australia, as rules of the court governing thereception into evidence of statements to police made by Aboriginal persons.

In addition to these rules on interrogation procedures, there are other procedures policeshould adopt. In our report on the death of J.J. Harper, we discuss and makerecommendations concerning the recording of interrogations. Those recommendationsare:

All statements taken by police officers be either audio- or video-recorded. If thecontents of a transcribed statement are challenged, or some tribunal wishes tohear how certain words were expressed, the tape or video can be played.

Video equipment be used to record the statements of all suspects in casesinvolving deaths and other serious cases. We suggest that the taping record thetotality of each interview, including all introductory comments and explanationsand warnings given by the police, and including any formal statement or othercomments that result.

The videotape will be of great value. The impact would be reduced if accusedpersons could allege that promises or inducements were offered or pressure wasapplied to them before the taping began.

Where video equipment is not available, all statements be audio-recorded. TheRCMP has tape-recorded some statements for years. We recommend that all

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police make that practice mandatory in all cases, with the use of video wherestatements are taken in an office with that equipment.

While they continue to police Aboriginal communities, the RCMP and all other Manitobapolice forces develop and make public an integrated strategy to strengthen their capacityto provide culturally appropriate policing services, and the strategy include thedevelopment of a process of regular communication with Aboriginal organizations andcommunities, and the annual publication of reports which indicate progress in meetingthe goals of the strategy.

The City of Brandon Police Department, in cooperation with the Brandon FriendshipCentre, develop a program to reach out to and inform Aboriginal people living inBrandon about policing issues.

! Major improvements to the Provincial Police Act and Regulations, and in the role andfunction of the Manitoba Police Commission, to properly support the development ofstandards and procedures to guide all aspects of policing in Manitoba.

The Provincial Police Act make explicit provision for the recognition of any policecommission or committee which is established to provide police services in anymunicipality, unorganized territory, or Aboriginal community in Manitoba.

The Manitoba Police Commission prepare and enforce a wide range of regulationscovering recruitment, training, equipment, procedures, supervision of, and support for,police forces in Manitoba.

The development of Aboriginal police commissions to support the rapid recruitment,training and effective support of Aboriginal police forces.

The Provincial Police Act be amended to provide for the establishment of a provincialAboriginal Police Commission with authority to prepare and enforce a wide range ofregulations covering recruitment, training, equipment, procedures, supervision of, andsupport for, Aboriginal police forces in Manitoba.

Final decisions concerning the size, composition and manner of appointment to theAboriginal Police Commission be made by Aboriginal people.

The Provincial Police Act be amended to provide for the appointment of an AboriginalPolice Commissioner, to serve the Aboriginal Police Commission, with any such personbeing selected by Aboriginal organizations responsible for Aboriginal police forces.

Agreements be developed between the provincial Aboriginal Police Commission, local

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police commissions, the RCMP and the provincial Justice department for Aboriginalpolice forces to provide full police services to Aboriginal communities, with a firmtimetable for achieving this goal, including training, equipping and supporting the localforces with appropriate back-up services as required.

! The development of an effective public complaints body to hear all complaintsconcerning police.

The Minister of Justice establish a plan of action to deal with any incident where possiblecriminal acts are alleged against the police, or where a person dies or suffers seriousinjury in an incident involving a police officer.

This plan of action include either the creation of a standing special investigations unit, ora plan to quickly assemble a special investigations team for a particular incident, able totake control of the investigation immediately following report of the incident. The unit orteam should not include officers from the police department under investigation. The planshould include independent counsel to give advice concerning the laying of criminalcharges. This counsel should not be a Crown attorney. The unit or team should reportdirectly to the Minister of Justice.

The police forces in the province be required to provide all available assistance andcooperation to the special investigations team.

The Law Enforcement Review Board be reconstituted and the Law Enforcement ReviewAct be amended to approximate the Ontario model.

The board appoint independent counsel to have conduct of each case and be responsiblefor presenting the evidence.

Where the complaint is from an Aboriginal person, at least one member of a panel beAboriginal.

The test to be applied by the board be proof by clear and convincing evidence, ratherthan beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the board decides that the complaint is proven, it have full power to impose whateverpenalties it deems appropriate.

In addition to what is now in Law Enforcement Review Agency reports, the agency reportannually on the nature of complaints, how many were found to have merit, how manywere dismissed and the type of penalty applied.

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Police officers, including the officer against whom the complaint is made, be compellablewitnesses.

Aboriginal justice systems establish and maintain an agency to receive, investigate andresolve complaints against Aboriginal police officers similar to what we recommend forprovincial police forces.

Complaints against the RCMP in Manitoba, when acting as a provincial police force, beinvestigated and heard by the Law Enforcement Review Board.

2. POLICING TRENDS

Before reviewing the progress that has been made towards implementing the Aboriginal JusticeInquiry’s recommendations on police, it useful to take note of a number of importantcontemporary trends in policing in Canada.

Costs: The cost of policing has, over the past two decades, been growing at a pace that hasrequired governments across Canada to take measures to limit the rate of growth in the policebudget. The increases in costs have been driven by a number of factors: wages, technology, andincreases in public expectations.

Funding: Over the last decade governments have slowed the growth in spending on police, oftenby reducing the number of police officers per capita.

Regionalization: One of the strategies that governments have adopted in an effort to reducepolice budgets is regionalization. By merging smaller police departments, it is hoped thateconomies of scale can be achieved.

Staffing: It is expected that most police forces will experience a high rate of retirements over thenext five years. This is likely to create problems in recruiting and training.

Crime: While there has been a decrease in crime rates in recent years, the crime rates have notdeclined to the levels they were at in the 1970s. Without significant socio-economic changes itwould appear that many communities will continue to experience serious, and possiblyincreasing crime rates.

Services: Budgetary pressures are leading police forces to focus more intently on the delivery ofcore services (crime suppression), with a greater expectation that the community and or theprivate sector will take on a greater portion of what was once considered the role of the police.

Governance: Concerns over costs have led to changes in governance. Increasingly the police are

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seen as another branch of the public service and subjected to similar forms of measurement,monitoring and comparison to other services. This process challenges the traditionalindependence of the police.

Family violence: In response to pressure from victims and women’s groups there has been agrowing movement to criminalize family violence. This has led to an increase in both chargesand prosecutions related to family violence. (The issue of family violence will be explored indetail in another set of recommendations).

Community policing: While the idea of community policing has received a great deal ofattention over the past two decades there is no single definition as to what it constitutes. Whilemany police forces have formally committed themselves to community police approaches, theyare often add-ons to traditional approaches. Such initiatives are vulnerable to budget cuts and are,potentially, at odds with the other policing trends that have been identified.

(a) Implications of these trends for Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal policing

In large measure the trends identified above often run counter to the spirit of the AboriginalJustice Inquiry recommendations. The AJI favoured community policing, the creation ofAboriginal police forces, and affirmative action hiring policies in non-Aboriginal forces.The evidence presented to the AJI favoured an approach to policing that provided a high level oftraditional police services and an innovative community policing approach that dealt with issuessuch as public order and dispute resolution.

At least in the short-term, the establishment of community-based Aboriginal police forces isgoing to incur a number of cost increases. Start-up costs—both in terms of training andacquisition—will be considerable. Even if Aboriginal forces are organized on a regional basis,the economies of scale may be limited. It may well be that this process will lead to an increase instaffing (indeed such an increase might be required simply to provide many small and remotecommunities with adequate policing under current policing models). Furthermore, it is notappropriate to expect new models of policing, such as community policing, to be both innovateand inexpensive.

The expected staff turnover in traditional police forces will create more employmentopportunities for Aboriginal people. However, it may well be the case that Aboriginal officerswill leave Aboriginal forces to take positions with urban and national police forces when jobopenings occur since the urban and national forces offer better pay and more career opportunities.This could only increase the staffing problems experienced by Aboriginal forces, which currentlyhave higher than average turnover rates.

The pressure to standardize police governance at higher levels may also turn out to be in conflictwith desires for more community control over policing.

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As a concluding note, it is important to acknowledge the legitimacy of the views expressed bythe Aboriginal community. Unless there is a new approach to justice and policing, the rates ofcriminalization of Aboriginal people are likely to remain high. Local knowledge and anunderstanding of local culture are crucial to improvements in policing in Aboriginalcommunities, but this knowledge may not be valued in a modernized and regionalized policeservice.

3. STATUS OF THE THREE AJI PRINCIPLES IN 2001

Given the time constraints placed on the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission, it hasnot been possible to conduct an in-depth investigation into the current state of relations betweenAboriginal people and the police in Manitoba. The AJIC did commission a survey paper byUniversity of Manitoba criminologist Rick Linden, who also prepared background materials forthe Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. Dr. Linden’s paper (which was prepared with the assistance ofProfessors Donald Clairmont and Chris Murphy) was posted on our website and circulated fordiscussion. It forms the basis for the AJIC’s following assessment on the degree to which the AJIpolicing recommendations have been implemented.

1. The adoption of Aboriginal community-based policing as the favoured strategy for policing inall Aboriginal areas.

Progress in this area has been slow. As will be noted later in this chapter, community-policingremains a poorly defined if widely embraced concept. In Manitoba, the Royal Canadian MountedPolice has a community policing program that involves the formation of CommunityConsultative Groups, supporting restorative justice initiatives and creating advisory groups withrepresentatives from the Aboriginal community. In Manitoba, there are 97 such advisory groupsin 44 Aboriginal communities.

The Winnipeg Police Service’s community policing program operates in several Winnipegcommunities that have large Aboriginal populations. Elements of this program include:

• an Aboriginal Liaison Officer• a 14-member Aboriginal Advisory Committee.

Members of the department are also active with a number of community groups including theAboriginal Coalition of Winnipeg, the Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Career AwarenessCommittee, Winnipeg Native Alliance, and Aboriginal Ganootamaage of Winnipeg.Despite these positive steps, and an institutional commitment to community policing, it isacknowledged that community policing remains as much a goal as a reality in Manitoba.

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2. The development of professional, fully trained, regional Aboriginal police forces, reporting toand serving Aboriginal communities, with a broad mandate for law enforcement and crimeprevention.

Little progress has been made in implementation the recommendations relating to Aboriginalpolicing. The Dakota Ojibway Tribal Police Service remains the only Aboriginal police force inManitoba, and it provides service to six of the eight communities that it serviced in 1991.The Manitoba Keewatinowai Okimakinak has completed a framework agreement with thefederal and provincial governments to establish a Police Consulting Group. This may lead to aregional Aboriginal police service for northern Manitoba. Chemawawin First Nations, SwanLake First Nations, and Waywayseecappo First Nations operate under the terms of the tripartiteRCMP-First Nation Community Police Service (FNCPS) agreement and are policed by membersof the RCMP.

3. A significant strengthening of employment equity programs, particularly in the case of theWinnipeg and Brandon police forces, including targets and remedies.

In this area both the Winnipeg Police Service and the RCMP have made significant progress. Inhis paper for the AJIC, Linden provides the following summary of Aboriginal employment bythese two services:

There has been significant progress in hiring Aboriginal staff, particularly by the RCMP andthe Winnipeg Police Service. The RCMP have added an Aboriginal sergeant as a CareerManager in the Staffing Branch to help with Aboriginal recruiting and personnelmanagement. The RCMP has 108 Aboriginal members in the province (about 11% of thetotal number of officers and nearly 20% of those assigned to contract policing), 11 of whomhold supervisory ranks. Twenty-one of the province’s 97 detachment clerks are Aboriginal. The RCMP tries to ensure that Aboriginal communities have Aboriginal police officers, butmust also ensure that Aboriginal members have the same transfer and professionalopportunities as other members. Since 1993, the RCMP has run an Aboriginal SummerYouth Employment Plan in cooperation with Aboriginal organizations, provincial agencies,and municipal groups. About half the students in this program have applied to join theRCMP.

Following the AJI report, the Winnipeg Police Service instituted several initiatives toincrease Aboriginal hiring. While maintaining the minimum standard of Grade 12 or G.E.D.equivalency was maintained, the Winnipeg Police Service established three programs to traino Aboriginal and visible minority candidates As a result, the Winnipeg Police Service nowhas 100 Aboriginal officers compared with 18 in 1990. This is 8.5% of the total complementof 1,174 members. The department also developed an Employment Equity Policy in 1996.

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The WPS has been less successful in hiring Aboriginal civilian staff and only 2.3% ofcivilian staff are Aboriginal. Future employment equity programs will target civilian staff.(Linden et al., page 16)

While the Brandon Police Service has an employment equity program, its increase from twoAboriginal officers to four over the past decade is less encouraging than those of either theWinnipeg service or the RCMP.

4. A significant expansion of the availability and quality of cross-cultural training and fieldexperience, including processes for the orientation of new staff to the Aboriginal communities towhich they were assigned.

The province’s three major police forces all have ongoing multicultural training programs. Theyalso provide training on issues such as harassment and ethics. The courses have been reviewed byoutside examiners and revised in light of their findings.

5. Major improvements to the Provincial Police Act and Regulations, and in the role andfunction of the Manitoba Police Commission, to properly support the development of standardsand procedures to guide all aspects of policing in Manitoba.

No action has been taken on these recommendations. There is no legislation addressing policingstandards in the province. Furthermore, the Manitoba Police Commission was abolished. Theabsence of a police commission is a major weakness in Manitoba’s police policy.

6. The development of Aboriginal police commissions to support the rapid recruitment, trainingand effective support of Aboriginal police forces.

As noted above, there currently is no Manitoba Police Commission, let alone an AboriginalPolice Commission. A Director of Aboriginal Policing has been appointed by Manitoba Justiceto provide support for Aboriginal police initiatives.

7. The development of an effective public complaints body to hear all complaints concerningpolice.

The changes that the AJI recommended in this area have not been fully acted upon. Instead theLaw Enforcement Review Board has been abolished; complaints that were heard by the board arenow heard by a Provincial Court Judge. The standard of proof under the Act has been changedand more investigators have been added. The RCMP Public Complaints Commission continuesto hear complaints about that force.

In summation, in two areas: the employment of Aboriginal people and cross cultural training,Manitoba police forces have achieved considerable success. The AJIC commends the forces for

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this progress and strongly encourages their continued efforts in these important areas.However, in the area of Aboriginal policing, community policing, and improvements inaccountability and oversight, progress has been either slow or non-existent. The rest of thischapter examines these three areas.

4 AJIC PRIORITIES

The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission has identified three priority areas in the areaof policing that must be addressed. They are:

• Accountability and oversight• Community policing• Aboriginal policing

All three of these points are interconnected. It will be very difficult for the Manitoba governmentto make real progress in the area of either community policing or Aboriginal policing until itadopts a new Provincial Police Act. Such an Act ought to establish standards, appointments,governance, discipline, policy and philosophy. It must also ensure adequate, efficient, andeffective oversight. Such an Act would create a framework for progress in the areas ofcommunity policing and Aboriginal policing.

Community policing and Aboriginal policing are inter-connected in that Aboriginal communitieshave regularly expressed a desire for community policing and Aboriginal forces are likely to bemost effective if they make use of community policing approaches. Furthermore, as noted above,the implementation of community policing and the expansion of Aboriginal policing initiativesare both frustrated by similar trends and developments in contemporary policing.

(a) ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT

The Manitoba Government’s failure to address the AJI recommendations on policeaccountability amounts to a failure to properly monitor and assess a public service. This is a clearresponsibility of the Manitoba Government under section 92(14) of the Constitution. Under thissection, the Manitoba Government has the authority to establish a police force with the authorityto enforce provincial laws and federal criminal laws. Manitoba also has the authority to appoint,control and discipline members of the force.

In the paper prepared for this Implementation Commission, Linden et al state:

For decades, police in Manitoba have had less regulation, control, and guidance than almostany other province. Manitoba has no minimum standards for selection, discipline orequipment. There are no provisions for auditing the operations of municipal or regionalpolice departments or for standardizing operational procedures. It is possible for a person

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unsuited for police work to be hired by a municipality and to work in a department that hasno adequate policy and procedures manual to guide the officer’s conduct. (Linden et al, page43)

As the AJI noted the Manitoba Police Commission had broad powers that included:

• crime prevention,• providing information, advice, and research to assist municipal police,• maintenance of standards for lock-up facilities,• assessing the quality of municipal police forces,• recommending selection, training, and promotion standards,• recommending province-wide training programs including recruit and advanced training,• developing post-secondary educational programs for police,• establishing community relations programs,• regulating equipment for police forces, and• quasi-judicial functions including those established by the Law Enforcement Review Act.

The AJI concluded that the Commission was severely underfunded and did little more than fulfillits quasi-judicial functions under the Act. Since the Commission was abolished in 1992, the LawEnforcement Services Branch has been responsible, on paper for the tasks previously assigned tothe Commission. However, in large measure the Branch has not taken on this role.

The AJI called on the Manitoba Government to make “Major improvements to the ProvincialPolice Act and Regulations, and in the role and function of the Manitoba Police Commission, toproperly support the development of standards and procedures to guide all aspects of policing inManitoba.” The AJIC fully endorses the need to take action in this area.

As noted above, one of the issues that led to the creation of the AJI was the shooting death of J.J.Harper. Considerable attention was devoted both prior to the establishment of the AJI and duringits hearings to the rapid internal review that the Winnipeg Police Force conducted into that death.There was a concern at the time that in matters such as this, police forces should not beinvestigating themselves. For this reason, the AJI proposed a method of outside review for allpolice forces in Manitoba. However, little has been done to address this issue. The AJICbelieves, with the AJI, that it is necessary for the provincial government to establish an effectiveand independent oversight mechanism.

(b) COMMUNITY POLICING

As noted earlier, community policy policing is a widely embraced but often vaguely definedapproach to policing. For this reason it is not a simple matter to say whether or not a police forcehas or has not implemented a community policing approach. It is apparent that moves toimplement community policing have the potential to run counter to many other contemporary

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policing trends, particularly policies that focusing on core services, regionalization andcentralization. Aside from the various trends that run counter to the implementation ofcommunity policing, it should be noted that police training itself focuses in large measure ontraditional criminal justice approaches to crime prevention that tends to delegitimize alternativeapproaches.

The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission associates community policing with thefollowing elements that Linden et al. identified as being necessary in a meaningful communitypolicing program.

! Community involvement in decisions about policing. The community memberswho receive police services should help set policing priorities and influence thepolicies of police departments. The police should not just have a one-wayrelationship with their communities. They must develop institutionalized ways ofconsulting with their communities and they should actually listen to what thecommunities say. A common failing of community policing has been a reluctanceof the police to give the public meaningful input into police priorities.

! Decentralized management. Communities and neighbourhoods vary widely andpolicies that are appropriate in one area may not work in another. In recognition ofthis diversity, a community policing program should assign responsibility andauthority to the police at the local level. This means that officers must be trainedto handle this responsibility and authority and must be held accountable for theirwork.

! Problem orientation. Problem-oriented policing means that police areencouraged to work with the community to solve local problems rather than justfocussing on enforcement. In addition to their traditional task of reacting to callsfor service, the police work with the community to identify and to resolve thecommunity problems that underlie the service calls. This proactive, preventiveapproach has great potential in some Aboriginal communities where social andeconomic problems lead to high levels of calls for service. (Linden et al., page 30)

Community policing approaches mesh with the approaches that Aboriginal communities wish tosee taken on justice issues, they fit with Aboriginal concerns over self-government, they adapt tocommunity variety, and they bridge the gaps of culture and class that currently separate policeand Aboriginal people. For these reasons the AJIC believes that it is important that governmentsand police services continue to work together towards the implementation of these policies.However, the AJIC also recognizes the numerous barriers and countervailing forces that policeservices face when they attempt to implement such a policy.

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(c) ABORIGINAL POLICING

The lack of progress that has been made in Manitoba in the development of Aboriginal policeforces must be viewed in the context of national policing trends in this area in 1992 theGovernment of Canada approved a First Nations Policing Policy. This policy transferredAboriginal policing from Indian Affairs to the Solicitor General. The government committeditself to negotiating agreements with First Nations and Provincial Governments under whichwhich the federal government and the province would pay for the costs of on-reserve policing,although First Nations government had the option of topping up funding to provide additionalservices. The intent was that the police services that were to be developed under this agreementwould be:

• comparable to that received by non-native communities under similar conditions,

• subject to significant First Nations control and direction, and

• responsive to the distinctive traditions and social circumstances of First Nationscommunities.

The negotiations between the Federal Government, the Provincial Government and the FirstNation were to lead to community tripartite agreements. The agreements promoted two policeservice delivery models:

1) First Nations Administered Police Service: organized on a band, tribal, regional or provincialbasis, including arrangements providing for one First Nation to contract for the policingservices of another.

2) Special Contingent of First Nations Officers: within an existing police service, including:

(a) First Nations officers employed within a provincial or municipal police service withdedicated responsibilities to serve a First Nation community.

(b) A group of First Nations police officers employed through a contractual arrangementto provide a policing service to a First Nation community.

In addition, the negotiations could lead to a Developmental Policing Arrangement which wasdesigned to smooth the transition from one type of policing arrangement to another. Provincialgovernments had an incentive to participate in these programs since under the new agreementtheir share in the funding of the policing of Aboriginal communities would drop from 70 per centto 52 per cent. In practise this has not lead to a decline in provincial spending on the policing of

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these communities, since the costs of Aboriginal forces under either model have been higher thanunder the previous policing model.

There has been considerable progress towards implementing this policy outside of Manitoba.Over 112 tripartite agreements had been signed by 1998, and almost 66 per cent of eligible FirstNations persons were being policed under the agreement. The policy had led to the creation ofover 50 self-administered First Nations police services. Most of these forces have been created inOntario and Quebec. In Saskatchewan there is a province-wide agreement under the FNPP.In Manitoba DOPS remains the only First Nations Administered Police Service. Since DOPSpredates the FNPP, it is not appropriate to view its creation or existence as the result of theFNPP.

Three First Nations, Chemawawin First Nation, Swan Lake First Nation, and WaywayseecappoFirst Nation, operate under the terms of the tripartite RCMP-FNCPS agreement and are policedby Aboriginal members of the RCMP. Furthermore, MKO is involved in negotiations with thefederal and provincial government that could lead to the establishment of a regional Aboriginalforce.

The fact that Manitoba has made slow progress in establishing Aboriginal police forces at a timewhen significant progress has been made nationally appears to be due to a number of factors.Two of the most significant are costs and issues of service delivery. While a number ofprovincial governments entered into First Nations policing agreements with an expectation thattheir costs would decline, or at least remain the same, the experience has been that Aboriginalpolicing is more expensive that the previous police services. This is due to a variety reasons thathave been discussed elsewhere in this chapter. Secondly, there have been a number of concernswith the level of service provided by Aboriginal services both in Manitoba and elsewhere inCanada.

There have been a number of assessments of First Nation police services conducted over the pastfive years. They have concluded that while the policy was being implemented in terms of itsoverall goals (Aboriginal officers, self-administration, and the number of agreements reached),there were concerns about the conventional nature of the policing strategies pursued by theseforces, their lack of resources compared to the crime levels they must address, and high publicexpectations.

For example, there is an expectation that Aboriginal forces provide a high-quality of traditional,autonomous law enforcement. Simultaneously, there is an expectation that good policing in anAboriginal context will go beyond crime suppression and do so in a manner that is distinctiveand under community control. Aboriginal police forces are being asked to blaze a new trail inpolicing with resources that may not be adequate. The generic trends in policing that were notedearlier in chapter all evolved in response to shortfalls in resources. However, many of thesetrends (regionalization and standardization) all run counter to the thrust of Aboriginal policing.

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Recently two Alberta First Nations police services closed, temporarily, while other Alberta forcesare reported to be facing difficulties.

One apparent solution to the challenge of creating economically viable and culturally sensitiveAboriginal police forces is the development of regional Aboriginal police forces. This approachwas endorsed by the AJI. Such forces would also have to enter into collaboration agreementswith non-Aboriginal police forces. This approach has governed the growth of Aboriginal policeforces elsewhere in Canada, with the Alberta government currently giving consideration to thecreation of a province-wide Aboriginal force.

Aboriginal communities must play the lead role in developing these services. The Commission isin favour of an approach which provides communities with a reasonable degree of choice indetermining how they are to be policed. The options currently available to Aboriginal people forpolicing (regional Aboriginal forces, local Aboriginal forces, continuing with the current style ofpolicing with the RCMP, and working with the RCMP to develop a more satisfactory form ofpolicing) ought to be sufficiently flexible in nature to allow for the development of community-appropriate policing arrangements.

The process of establishing such a force should involve each Aboriginal community in a needsassessment, a thorough review of options, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. (These issuesare discussed in detail in Linden et al.) The AJIC encourages the Manitoba Government to workwith Aboriginal communities that express an interest in establishing Aboriginal forces and towork with the RCMP to develop improved approaches to policing Aboriginal communities.

Another approach that might be worth considering is the creation of a Prairie Region AboriginalPolice Force or a Prairie Provincial Police Force with an Aboriginal component. Given thepressures facing police services noted above, Prairie forces may be an answer to the need forincreased efficiency and effectiveness while at the same time bringing greater local control.

5. AJIC RECOMMENDATIONS

The issues that have been outlined in this chapter are complex. While significant progress hasbeen made in a number of areas of policing, the issues of accountability and oversight,community policing and Aboriginal policing are far from resolved. The issues involve severallayers of government, the public, as well as fundamental questions of funding, policy, andgovernance. While the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission believes that progressmust be made all three areas, the Commission believes that what is required to break the currentimpasse is a provincial task force on policing that is mandated to make recommendations on anew Police Act for the province of Manitoba.

A systematic review of all policing issues in Manitoba, culminating in the adoption of a new act,would ensure that all the issues and trends identified in this paper are fully examined and that

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appropriate strategies developed and adopted. Such a review would undoubtedly raise andexamine other policing issues that do not directly touch on the relationship between Aboriginalpeople and the police. Conventional law enforcement approaches, which are being reinforced bynumerous trends, must be held up to close scrutiny. This process must ensure that the proposedbeneficiaries of changes in police policy, have effective participation in the review process. IfManitoba is committed to community policing – and therefor in Aboriginal communities, toAboriginal policing—then it may the case that a new model of policing is required for the entireprovince. The AJIC believes that a more transparent and independent governance system coupledwith a community policing approach which requires use of peacekeeping or restorativecommunity-based policing philosophies and strategies (and that is properly funded), will create apolice force that is more credible, legitimate and effective.

(b) SUMMARY

From the foregoing it is apparent that the provision of police services in Manitoba is quitecomplex, involving both municipal and provincial governments in providing services outside ofFirst Nations and First Nations, provincial and federal governments in providing police serviceson First Nations. In addition, the RCMP’s role as the provincial police force andfederal/provincial arrangements to share the cost of the RCMP further complicates matters.

Given the nature of the issue, the limitations in the Commissions mandate with respect to timeand the need to focus on those issues solely within the responsibility and accountability of theprovincial government, the Commission has decided not to make detailed recommendations inthis area. It is the Commission's view that recommendations in this area will require extensiveconsultation with all interested parties. The Commission will recommend parallel, short-termand medium-term approaches. Before setting out its recommended approaches, the Commissionwishes to review the conclusions it has reached in its investigations into policing issues and theAboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI) recommendations dealing with police.

1. The Commission recognizes the efforts that the RCMP and the Winnipeg Police Forces havemade in increasing Aboriginal representation and in cross cultural training. The Commissionrespects these efforts and strongly encourages both forces to continue their work in this area.(The Manitoba Métis Federation has suggested that the Winnipeg Police Force enter into apartnership with the MMF to promote recruiting of Métis into the Force). The Commissionalso has been advised that a recent review of the RCMP Aboriginal Police Servicesrecommends enhanced training of members in Aboriginal culture and Aboriginal concerns.

2. The Commission agrees that there is a need for a strong legal foundation for the delivery ofpolice services in Manitoba. The Commission notes that while Alberta conducted a reviewof its Provincial Police Act in 1988, a further review, by a committee of members of theAlberta Legislative Assembly is currently in process.

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3. The Commission agrees that there is a need for independent oversight of police forces,particularly in cases of serious injury or allegations of criminal conduct by police officers. This need is grounded, at a minimum, in the need for the public to believe that such cases arebeing dealt with appropriately.

4. The Commission agrees with the AJI’s recommendation concerning the adoption of aphilosophy of community policing. The Commission also agrees that the description offeredby Professor Linden, et al., establishes a good working definition to assess communitypolicing efforts.

5. The Commission agrees that, in general, it would be preferable for Aboriginal communitiesto be provided police services primarily by Aboriginal officers under local Aboriginalcontrol. (The Commission recognizes, however, that in operational matters police forces arenot subject to political control.)

6. The Commission recognizes that any police service must be delivered in a cost-effectivemanner and there will be inevitable tensions between the desire for locally controlledcommunity policing and the need for efficiency.

(b) RECOMMENDATIONS

(i) Medium-Term (1 – 3 years)

1. The Commission recommends that the Province of Manitoba initiate a processinvolving all stakeholders (with Aboriginal representation that includes the Assembly ofManitoba Chiefs and the Manitoba Métis Federation) to review policing issues inManitoba with a goal of a new Provincial Police Act within 3 years. The review shoulddeal with, among other things,

• The role of the province in encouraging the adoption and delivery of effectivecommunity policing

• Whether current mechanisms to fund police services are equitable

• The role of the province in ensuring adequate and effective levels of policing

• Complaints and discipline mechanisms for alleged criminal and non-criminalconduct

• Establishing training and performance standards

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• Crime Prevention

• Victim Services

• The role and responsibilities of bodies charged with providing generalsupervision of police

• The distribution of powers between municipal governments, police supervisorybodies and the chief of police

• The role of the RCMP as a provincial police force and arrangements forprovision of specialized services by the Provincial Police Force to other forcessuch as, First Nation Police forces and municipal forces, both RCMP and non-RCMP

• What, if any, legislative provisions are required to deal with Aboriginal PoliceForces

(ii) Short-Term (Immediate

Ongoing work to improve the provision of police services to Aboriginal people should notstop while this review is being conducted. The Commission suggests the province adopt theshort term recommendations suggested by Professor Linden, et al that

2. The Province and Aboriginal communities adopt a process through which Aboriginalcommunities could choose the most appropriate type of police structure; such a processshould include,

• A needs assessment,• Option assessment, and• Monitoring and evaluation.

3. The province work with Dakota Ojibway Police Service (DOPS) to explore ways toimprove the efforts of DOPS to provide a community-based police service.

4. The province work with the RCMP to determine whether the RCMP is sufficientlyresponsive to community needs and concerns and whether the degree of responsivenesscan be improved.